Review: A Need So Beautiful by Suzanne Young

Synopsis: We all want to be remembered. Charlotte's destiny is to be Forgotten... Charlotte’s best friend thinks Charlotte might be psychic. Her boyfriend thinks she’s cheating on him. But Charlotte knows what’s really wrong: She is one of the Forgotten, a kind of angel on earth, who feels the Need—a powerful, uncontrollable draw to help someone, usually a stranger. But Charlotte never wanted this responsibility. What she wants is to help her best friend, whose life is spiraling out of control. She wants to lie in her boyfriend's arms forever. But as the Need grows stronger, it begins to take a dangerous toll on Charlotte. And who she was, is, and will become--her mark on this earth, her very existence--is in jeopardy of disappearing completely. Charlotte will be forced to choose: Should she embrace her fate as a Forgotten, a fate that promises to rip her from the lives of those she loves forever? Or is she willing to fight against her destiny--no matter how dark the consequences.
My Review: What I loved about this book mostly was that it went against the grain of most YA books. Firstly she is in a very healthy and loving relationship with Harlin. She's happy with her adoptive mother, Mercy, who loves her. Her brother, Alex, is great and openly gay. And she had a father figure in her life who looks out for her, Monroe. Everyone in her life, including her best friend Sarah, are great, lovely, fantastic. Except Charlotte's been hiding a secret from them for years claiming that its asthma attacks that cause her pain. When her Need (her word for the strange sensation she gets when she needs to help people she's never met) starts getting worse, and more frequent Charlotte starts to panic. And when her skin starts revealing gold patches underneath she turns to Monroe for help. But Monroe is also keeping his own secrets and eventually Charlotte learns the truth. A truth that is more horrible than she could ever imagine. She is one of the Forgotten and will soon meet her own demise. The writing of this book is amazing, I loved the authors flow and quick storyline. I was so engrossed before I realised that I'd read 70% of the book! This is an Angel book but one that's very different. That is, we don't actually know whether she's an angel yet but I'm assuming she is. All of the characters were fantastic, really fleshed out and believeable to the point that I wished Charlotte and Harlin had had more of a chance to say goodbye. The ending is really sad but is left open for the next installment which will be released on June 26th. I can't wait!
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